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Optimistic Alonso eyes Red Bull drivers

19 April 2014 – Fernando Alonso says he is hoping to be in a position to take the fight to the Red Bull drivers during the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver qualified a lonely fifth in Saturday's rain-hit session, almost two seconds adrift of Lewis Hamilton's pole-sitting Mercedes.

But while he admits the Silver Arrows are "out of reach", he feels it could be possible to challenge Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

"I feel comfortable," Alonso explained to the gathered media after qualifying. "The car felt better than it did in Bahrain and the steps [car upgrades] we brought here confirmed the positive result.

"We know it's not enough but it's a first step. Starting from fifth is a good result. Hopefully we can keep this position in the first few laps of the race tomorrow and go in the train with the leaders.

"15 days ago [in Bahrain] we were fighting for ninth and 10th – this is not enough. Hopefully we can fight for more points now. We know Mercedes is out of reach but hopefully we will not be far behind Red Bull."

In the sister Ferrari, Kimi Räikkönen was knocked out of Q2 and is set to start from 11th position.

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